Rules of attraction

Some things aren't open to debate. You don't need to run tests or analyse performance data to figure out that the Alfa 8C is beautiful. You look at it and a few seconds later you're thinking about remortgaging your house, selling a kidney, robbing a bank...

When it was first unveiled as a coupe concept back in 2003 we loved it, but in 2005, when the top was chopped off, what had seemed close to perfection suddenly became just that. It might have lost the teardrop three-quarter glass, but in its place was a chance to gawp at that exquisite interior; the dash console machined from a block of solid aluminium and framed by naked carbon fibre, the luxurious leather seats, the elegant switchgear.